UCF Excels in Trials on the Track

May 15, 2015


Credit: Ben Solomon/American Athletic Conference

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By Dan Forcella
UCFKnights.com

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STORRS, Conn. (UCFKnights.com) -- The UCF track and field team continued competition at the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships Friday, as two Knights advanced to the finals in all three events on the track for the day.

The first running event of the day was the 800 meter trials, and freshman Rosie Chamberlain was in the first heat. The youngster went out fast and cruised to a personal record and a freshman record, while missing the UCF school record by just one-hundredth of a second.

Chamberlain was second in her heat, automatically qualifying for Sunday's final. The Exeter, England native crossed the line in 2:06.38, just missing teammate Ne'Ausha Logan's program record. She had the fourth fastest time in qualifying, as all of the top four finished ahead of last year's fastest time in the event.

"This time I was actually able to get out fast," Chamberlain said. "I stuck with Maya [Williamson of Memphis] for the first 100 because I knew she was going to go fast. I just tried to stay behind her the whole race and not lose contact. I managed to do that."

In the third and final heat of the 800, Amelia Williams followed suit. The senior also placed second in her heat to earn a spot in Sunday's final, crossing the line in 2:08.00. Williams' time was a personal best, topping her previous record of 2:09.62, and was the fifth fastest on the day.

"They knew they had what the accomplished today in them," UCF assistant coach Johnny Gray said of Chamberlain and Williams. "The difference between what they've done in the past and today is that they went out a little more aggressively and trusted their shape. I was really pleased."

Caroline Pauls was third in the second heat of the 800, recorded a personal record, but narrowly missed qualifying for the final in the extremely competitive event. She crossed the line in 2:11.10. Logan also just missed the finals with a time of 2:12.11.

"It was very nice to see Rosie and Amelia advance to the next round, running personal bests like they did," UCF head coach Jeanette Bolden said. "That's phenomenal for them to do that in the semifinal and the good thing is that they take tomorrow off and run on Sunday so it's going to be a really good final."

The 400 meter hurdle trials followed the 800, and both Sandy Jean and Devinn Cartwright cruised to victories in their heats. Jean, the school and meet record holder in the event, had the best time of the day, running 59.93 seconds to win the first heat.

"Coach Bolden told us to get out fast on the first four hurdles," Jean said. "My first hurdle wasn't too great, but I made it up in the last two or three hurdles. The wind was a bit of a fight, but I gave it my best push and now I'm looking forward to Sunday."

Cartwright then won the second heat with a time of 1:01.09, which was the fourth fastest time on the day. Both Jean and Cartwright will compete in Sunday's final, which is scheduled for 12:40 p.m.

"It was good to see Sandy run a nice solid race and a solid time," Bolden said. "Devinn was really peaked to do well last year, but fell on the first hurdle. This year, for her to stay patient and advance with a fast time, I was happy to see that."

The 200 meter dash preliminaries concluded the day as the Knights had five running the event. J'Nea Bellamy, last year's champion, and Briana Vaughn both qualified for Sunday's finals.

Bellamy won her heat and finished with the fastest time on the day. She crossed the line in 23.61 seconds. Vaughn, who was in Bellamy's heat, qualified due to her time as her mark of 23.90 seconds allowed her to advance.

"J'Nea has been nursing a sore quad for the last six weeks, so for her to go out there and really run well was good," Bolden said. "For Briana to get out there and get one of those last qualifying spots was great."

Christal Peterson, Kirsten Nieuwendam and Terika Henry also competed in the 200 meters. Peterson was the closest to qualifying, finishing 12th overall with a time of 24.14 seconds.

Saturday's competition gets started at 11 a.m. with the long jump, while the javelin keeps things going at 12 p.m. Trials on the track on Saturday will be the 100 meter hurdles at 3 p.m., the 400 meter dash at 3:30 p.m. and the 100 meter dash at 4 p.m. The 3,000 meter steeplechase will conclude the day at 4:30 p.m.

Fans can watch all of the action on the American Digital Network. Live Results, as well as the UCF Track and Field Twitter and Instagram accounts, are available for updates during competition.